Outdoor Activities ...
As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).
When in Riley, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Riley and the surrounding area.
- Weather ...
- Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
- The National Weather Service forecast for Riley
- Astronomy & Satellites ...
- Whether using binoculars, a small telescope or the naked-eye, the Heavens-Above website can help you to find your way around the night-time sky. In addition to detailed sky charts, their website will help you find planets, asteriods, comets, satellites and their tracks across the sky.
- To give accurate results, Heavens-Above requires the latitude and longitude of your location. As a starting point, when we link to Heavens-Above, we pass this GPS location for Riley:
- 42.191412, -88.632592
- Once you're on the Heavens-Above website, you can improve its accuracy by giving a more precise longitude and latitude as your actual position.
- The Heavens-Above Website, centered on Riley
- Bird Watching ...
- We enjoy finding new spots for bird watching and we use the eBird website for local sighting reports and to help identify hotspots.
- The eBird website is organized on a county-by-county basis. We have selected McHenry County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
- eBird sighting report for McHenry County
- Since Riley is near Boone County and also DeKalb County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
- eBird sighting report for Boone County
- eBird sighting report for DeKalb County
- Waymarking ...
- Looking for somewhere out of the ordinary? Find a unique place and want to share it with others? Then it's time to visit Waymarking.com:
- Waymark.com
Communities Also Named Riley ...
We found 23 communities that share the name Riley.
Within Illinois, the name Riley is unique.
Beyond Illinois, we know of another 23 communities that are located throughout in the United States and Canada. Of these 23 communities, 22 are located in the United States and one is in Canada.
- Communities Elsewhere In North America ...
- Alabama
- Arkansas
- Ashley County
- This Riley is located in Ashley County and lies 632 miles [1,017.1 km]<1> to the south southwest of the Riley that is located in McHenry County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Ashley County community of Riley.
- Yell County
- We found mention of this community, but have little information.<2> For the information that we do have, please visit our profile page for the Arkansas community of Riley [Yell County].
- British Columbia
- This Riley lies 1,388 miles [2,233.8 km]<1> to the west northwest of the Riley that is located in McHenry County.
- California
- Indiana
- Hancock County
- This Riley is located in Hancock County and lies 224 miles [360.5 km]<1> to the southeast of the Riley that is located in McHenry County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Hancock County community of Riley.
- Vigo County
- This Riley is located in Vigo County and lies 205 miles [329.9 km] to the south southeast of the Riley that is located in McHenry County.
- For more information, please visit our profile page for the Vigo County community of Riley.
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Maine
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- New Mexico
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- South Carolina
- Tennessee
- Utah
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
Curious and Interesting Names Near Riley ...
As we travel, we always see a community with a name that gives pause. While there are names which are interesting or familiar, some catch our attention or strike our fancy. We always wonder about such a name. If time permits and the community is not too far, we'll usually try to make a side-trip.
- Charter Grove
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Charter Grove
- Charter Grove is located in DeKalb County
- Coral
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the northeast) - Garden Prairie
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the northwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Garden Prairie
- Garden Prairie is located in Boone County
- Population from the 2010 Census: 352 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Garden Prairie <5>
- Harmony
(5 miles [8 km] to the east) - Herbert
(7 miles [11.3 km] to the west) - Indian Trails
(3 miles [4.8 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Indian Trails have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Indian Trails
- Indian Trails is located in McHenry County
- Reeds Crossing ‑ Historic
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Reeds Crossing have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Reeds Crossing
- Reeds Crossing is located in Boone County
- Union
(5 miles [8 km] to the northeast)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Union have been provided by the GNIS.<4> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Union
- Union is located in McHenry County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 548 people
- Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Union <5>
How Far From Riley to ...
We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers, Almanacs & Directories that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Riley to various places of note, such as the White House.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance beginning in Riley and extending to:
- Woodstock, which is the Seat of McHenry County, lies 12 miles [19.3 km]<1> to the northeast. If you could walk a straight line from Riley to Woodstock, with an average speed<6> of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour, it would take five to six hours to make the trip. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take nearly four hours.
- Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 174 miles [280 km] to the south southwest (SSW). Driving, with an average speed of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, would take about three hours, a buggy would take 7 days and walking would take 10 days.
- The White House (Washington, DC) is 648 miles [1,042.9 km] to the east southeast (ESE). Driving would take just over a day, a buggy would take 26 days and walking would take 37 days.
- The shortest distance<7> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,203 miles [9,982.8 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<8>
- The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 6,945 miles [11,176.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<9>
- The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 4,831 miles [7,774.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<10>
Off-the-Road Links ...
Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Riley. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.
The official website for McHenry County: www.co.mchenry.il.us/
The official website for State of Illinois: https://illinois.gov
Footnotes ...
| <1> | Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line drawn from Point A (ie- Riley) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Riley. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 42.1914, Longitude: -88.6326 In this case, the coordinates for Riley have been provided by the Geographic Names Information System (GNIS). |
| <2> | If we encounter the name of what might be a community, our methodology is to add that name to our Gazetteer as a placeholder. As we find more information about that community, it will be added to our Gazetteer. Just as a reminder: Our definition of a community is rather broad and includes those places (or areas) where several families lived and had a name which identified that place. For example, you might hear somebody say that they are going over to Mile's to see Pete ... Mile's is just a gas station and a couple of homes at the crossroads. While it might not be on the map, everybody in the area knows it by that name. Places of interest include buildings at a crossroad, several families clustered in a hollow or maybe the location of a way station. It also includes places like mines, lumber camps, ferry crossings, etc. The community might still exist, is now gone or only existed for just a short period of time. Also keep in mind that Riley could have been on the original document by mistake, misspelled, the original/alternate name of a community that we've listed elsewhere or was placed in the wrong county. Sometimes a post office or train station would have a different name than the community where it's located, so two names might be referring to the same community - we're working to straighten it all out. |
| <3> | We use the term 'Historic' broadly and it generally means that the community no longer exists. However, it can also mean that the community might still exist, but was significantly larger or had a more 'official' existence in the past than it does now. Unfortunately our sources of data have proven to be unreliable. If you can provide us with more specific information about Riley, please let us know so that we can improve our accuracy. |
| <4> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <5> | While we're fans and frequent users of TripAdvisor, you should know that we're also members of the TripAdvisor affiliate program. |
| <6> | While we have tried to pick reasonable speeds, the rate of travel is very theoretical - obstacles like fences, hills, lakes, river crossings and rest stops have been ignored. When we say 'Days' of travel, we're assuming 8 hours of travel per day. |
| <7> | The shortest line can be visualized by stretching a string on a Globe from Point A to Point B - this is known as a Great Circle Route. Where you might expect the shortest route from Riley to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East. |
| <8> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 315.101 degrees. |
| <9> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 312.135 degrees. |
| <10> | The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 308.975 degrees. |